Arcene followed the flow of students through the school gates. Her brown eyes stared straight forward as she headed towards the auditorium for morning announcements. She stared but saw very little. Students walked by her, talking and laughing with their friends. Other students stood by bulletin boards along the path, looking at posters advertising the Activity Fair in a few days as well as Parent Teacher Night. Arcene acknowledged none of this. While her body was walking on the school campus, her mind was somewhere else. It was in her daydreams, where her imagination ran wild and adventure was an everyday occurrence.

Had she been paying more attention, she would have felt the eyes watching her as she walked.

Azlyn² walked just a few feet behind Arcene, fiddling with the single braid in her knee-length green hair. Usually she wouldn’t have noticed Arcene amongst the crowd but Arcene’s daydreaming had alerted Azlyn to her presence. It was hard for Azlyn to ignore someone in a daydream amongst a crowd of energetic and alert people.

‘The girl that Dinari sent us to…I wonder what she’s like….What does she dream about…?‘ Azlyn thought.

She touched the dream catcher hanging around her neck. A smile creeped up onto her face. It was always fun when she got a chance to enter other people’s dreams. She kept her eyes on Arcene and got ready to enter her mind but was disappointed  when she couldn’t sense her dreaming anymore.

Azlyn huffed in annoyance before she realized why. They were entering the building, and people were pressing closer together to get through the doors. The change had made Arcene more alert.

‘Oh well, I guess I’ll take a look another time….’ she thought as she entered through the doors and scanned in with her ID.

………………..

“Requesting full body scan for recognition.”

Uneasiness settled into Arcene’s chest but on her face, she hid it well. She wasn’t very good at talking to people, let alone robots. The situation she was in was rather odd to be honest.

Grabbing onto her wrist was one of her less…human classmates. If Arcene remembered correctly, her name was CRAI³. Arcene would have thought her to be human would it not have been for the metal plates attached to her head and the fact that she had scanned all of their classmates on the first day.

Arcene shifted her books and turned all the way around to face the android. CRAI stared at her with her  blank, robotic eyes. Arcene got a good look at her. Her hair’s color was a bit like Elodie’s except with a bit more of a greyish tinge. It was also shorter and straighter. Her eyes were blue and her skin was pale and there seemed to be no heat emanating from it.

By all means the girl looked human but she had an air about her that just said she was something unnatural. Though Arcene knew the girl  was a robot, her appearance was enough to make her look away after her once over.

She blinked as a bright blue light ran itself up and down her body. The light had come from CRAI’s oculars. The scan was done within a few seconds.

CRAI blinked as she received the information she had requested before nodding and releasing Arcene’s wrist.

“I hope you enjoy your rose-colored high school life,” said CRAI before turning and walking away.

Arcene watched her as the android disappeared into the crowd of people. She rubbed her wrist. The robot had a very good grip.

‘Rose colored high school life huh? If only’ she thought.

………………..

‘I know this is a private school and all but I thought dodgeball would have been banned by now,’ Arcene thought as she dodged the red bullets that were coming at her.

The balls weren’t particularly hard or anything but anything could hurt if it was thrown hard enough.

One of the gym teachers had the bright idea to play dodgeball today. The gym was divided into three sections and the six  classes were put into one-on-one competitions.

The bad news was that the other team had realized that she was an easy target, meaning that there was four people throwing dodgeballs at her.

The good news was that she was on a pretty good team.

The most of the guys had taken to the game like fish to water, not that the girls were any slouches either. Arcene didn’t think all of her classmates had even heard of dodgeball before that day but she knew they were good at it.

Kaage, the boy with the long silver hair was untouchable. He weaved in between the balls so fast it was hard to see him. Then he threw the balls just as fast as they had been thrown at him.

Raphael, Chase, Kol, and Marcella were savage with their throws. They picked up balls often made them go hard and fast at the other team.

Zupilee, the girl with green skin and pink hair was by far their best catcher⁴. Arcene was really surprised that nobody was freaking out about this but, the six tentacles coming out of her back reached out and caught any ball that made it to the middle section of our side, getting three people out at once. The girl definitely wasn’t human.

Damien, Annabelle, and Allen were slower than those in the front throwing most of the balls but were great catchers and made good walls to hide behind for those who hid in the back. Those that hid in the back included Arcene, Henry, Azlyn, Elodie, and Koobla, who was…somewhere. He especially hadn’t been too keen on playing dodgeball in the beginning and disappeared as soon as everyone ran for the balls.

Elodie was busy making herself useful. Every ball that made it past Zupilee she picked up and tossed to those who were throwing. Despite being one of the heavier girls in the class, she was surprisingly agile. The only balls that were able to touch her were ones thrown while she was delivering to the throwers.

Arcene looked at those who were out. At the side stood Mesi, who had clumsily walked into a ball, Charmant, who was arguing with Aerith, which made sense as she was the reason he was already out of the game, CRAI, who hadn’t understood the rules, and Lyra, who had been catching a ball when someone had thrown a second one at her.

Sitting on the bleachers was Primrose watching the game with her bodyguards at her side. She hadn’t changed for gym and Arcene had observed one of her guards talking to their gym teacher. Her conclusion was that for some reason, Primrose couldn’t play gym

Arcene turned back toward the game, just in time to be conked in the head with a ball.

………………..

Arcene closed her locker and readjusted her books. With her lunch bag in hand, she climbed up the stairs. For the past week, she had been eating in the cafeteria but she had quickly grown tired of it. It was loud and crowded in there, and everybody seemed to have somebody to sit with. Wherever she sat, she would either be alone at an empty table or surrounded by people she was too shy to try to talk to and didn’t pay her any mind.

She was in a room full of people yet somehow still alone.

Luckily, her usual exploring after school had borne some fruit. She now had a nice place to have her lunch.

Though her expression wouldn’t tell anyone this, but her heart felt extremely light today. Her lunch bag was filled with a meatball sub with mozzarella cheese, a soft chocolate chip cookie, a bag of kettle cooked barbecue chips, and an ice tea. Sure it wasn’t the healthiest lunch she could have but it definitely was a mood booster.

She swung her lunch bag as she walked. She opened the door to the stairwell and was about to climb up the stairs when she heard voices coming from behind the staircase. From what Arcene understood, the areas behind the staircases contained doors to the building’s basement and outside and was generally used for storage by the maintenance crew.

Her curiosity piqued, she stepped off the stairs and peered behind the stairs.

Behind the stairs stood Lyra, pushed against the wall and not looking too happy about it. In front of her was a guy about  a head taller than her, leaning against the wall with with one hand and partially blocking Lyra’s escape route. Arcene couldn’t exactly put a name to him but the boy’s light brown hair and reddish brown eyes were familiar to her.

“Honestly Hawk, if I knew you went here, I would have begged  my parents to put me in a public school,” said Lyra, glaring at the boy in front of her.

“Now don’t be like that…A pretty little bird like you shouldn’t be so mean,” he replied.

She looked away from him in disgust. Using his free hand, he grabbed her chin and turned her face back to him.

“Come on, say my first name…” he enticed.

“I only say the first names of people I like and you definitely aren’t one of those people,” she spat.

“I thought you liked things that were lively, had to do with music, and,” he pulled her so that she was chest to chest with him,”vigorous.”

“You disgust me. So much talent and you only do it for the fame and girls. I hate people like you.” Lyra shoved him back with the palm of her hand. “Why do you still come after me? I made it clear during the competition how I felt about you.”

He leaned in close again.”Because, l’m a Hawk. It’s only right that I’d want to hunt the most  beautiful songbird out there.”⁵

He leaned in further and Lyra struggled to find a way out. Arcene quietly gasped and looked around wildly. There were no cameras in this part of the stairwell. The nearest security guard was down a long stretch of hallway. Arcene was the only one who could see what was going on. Arcene was the only one who could stop it.

In most cases, Arcene would have decided to keep quiet or to run up the stairs and pretend she heard nothing. This was none of her business. She was a bystander. She was an observer. This didn’t involve her. Things NEVER involved her. She didn’t need to get involved. She NEVER got involved.

…..So why did she lift up her pencil bag, reach out her hand, and let it fall to the ground?

The clatter of the pencil bag was just enough noise to catch the attention of Lyra and her harasser.

Arcene stood frozen in place as the two stared at her. She tried to find something to say, perhaps something heroic like the protagonists in the stories she read. Even a simple “Get your hands off her” would have worked, but there Arcene stood, staring at them in silence. Well, what did she expect? Getting their attention had been against her better instinct and she really wasn’t the best when it came to social interaction.

In a short, in a situation right out of a teen fiction novel, she was a crap protagonist. Perhaps that was why she was more of a background character in her own life.

Anyway, the distraction was enough for Lyra to duck under Hawk’s arm and run out the stairwell.

That left Arcene awkwardly staring at the so-called Hawk person. He didn’t move. Neither did she.

He flipped his hair and put on a roguish smile. “Hey ba-“

Arcene picked up her pencil bag and dashed up the stairs as fast as she could and didn’t stop until she reached the top floor.

She breathed  heavily as she walked up a final flight of stairs to a closed door. She tested to see if it was open. When she found that it wasn’t, she pulled out a key from her pocket, put it in the socket, and turned it.

She had to shield her eyes to the bright light coming from beyond the door. She tucked the key into her pocket and walked through the door, careful to close it behind her. She was greeted by a fresh breeze and fresh sunshine. She stood on the roof of the school and took it all in.

She was so glad that she had found the key to the roof the previous day. It had been right in front of the door, perhaps dropped by a maintenance person or teacher. The ground was made out of concrete and its edges were surrounded by a tall fence. There were benches, a shed, a water tanker, and a small plot of dirt for gardening.

Arcene walked to the fence and looked out over the campus. It was quite pleasant up there on the roof and the view was great. Arcene sat on a bench and took out her lunch. Sandwich in hand and a smile in her heart, Arcene decided that she would enjoy the roof for as long as she could.

While she didn’t like loneliness very much, the quiet of chosen solitude brought  peace to her soul.

She took a large bite of her meatball sub and stared up at the clouds.

………………..

“Something interesting happened to you~”

Brio Hawk’s frown deepened. Dan’s intrusive nature never ceased to annoy him.

“What happened? Tell me. You know I like a good story” insisted Dan.

Brio looked at Dan. The boy was as plain as could be, with black hair, black eyes, and black glasses. He was unremarkable in every way. If it was any other case, Brio wouldn’t even be talking to him but right now, if Brio wanted  to become  top idol, he needed him.

“I was flirting with Lyra, got interrupted,” he said begrudgingly.

Dan sat back in his seat. “Interesting premise, lazy execution,” he said. He partially turned to the school laptop on his desk. “Lyra huh? Nightingale?” he asked

“Of course. Who else?”

Dan typed her name into the search bar and scrolled down the images and videos that popped up. “Hm…”

‘Rising teen idol with crimson hair and emerald eyes and beautiful to boot, boy do I wish I ran into her instead of whoever that other girl was…’ he thought idly.

He scrolled over an article featuring Lyra, something about an intense rivalries between two members of the Sing For The Top singing competition. He clicked it and read the article.

‘Well that’s interesting…’ he thought.

Dan looked up from his laptop. “Why were you flirting with Lyra? She’s your rival isn’t she?”

“Because she’s the best of the best.”

Dan raised his eyebrow. Those were high words coming from Brio. Dan never thought he’d hear Brio say something about a person he had a rivalry with. Those were also high words to hear about a 15 year old.

“When the show first started she was good,” Brio continued, “but something happened between the middle of the season and the finale. She went from good to-“

“Another draws near.”

Dan turned as a green skinned girl with long, dark, curly purple hair walked into the room. She adjusted the pointy hat on her head and looked at the bespectacled boy and his companion.

“How strong?” asked Dan, getting up from his seat.

“It is a younger one, 500 years at most,” she replied.

“Mara, call the others,” he ordered.

‘Hopefully this one isn’t like the last three. It’s more fun when they’re difficult.’ he thought to himself, letting a grin spread upon his face.

“Hoshiko,” he called.

A girl, glowing a pale blue light and floating by his side.

“Name the approaching star and give some info,” he commanded.

Hoshiko⁶ tugged at the collar that had materialized itself around her neck. She hated that she had to give up this information to the boy. Knowing that resistance was fruitless, she reluctantly told Dan what he wanted to know.

“Maristela. She usually takes wishes from those at sea or near the sea. Merfolk are not foreign to her. She has not come to this part of your dimension before, thus knows little. She is young, one of the youngest of us.”

“Hm, then I guess Rip⁷ will have to take the lead then,” Dan concluded after a bit of thought. “What is her location?”

“Over the Pacific, near Japan. 120 degrees East, 35 degrees North.”

“Keep track of her location.”

“Yes….master” she replied.

………………..

“Are you Arcene Grey?”

Arcene turned around, books in hand only to be face to chest with a large man in a suit and dark glasses. She stepped back and looked up at his face. She already felt a nervous sweat begin to develop.

“Yes, I am Arcene Grey,” she said calmly.

“You have been invited to afternoon tea by the young Miss Fairefield. The time: 3:45 pm. The place: at the picnic tables outside the North Building. Do not be late.” The man pulled a pink invitation out of his and gave it to Arcene. As he walked away, the girl stood flabbergasted.

Her mind searched for a face to match the name for though it was familiar to her, she couldn’t remember the owner.

‘Well this is certainly out of the ordinary…’ she thought to herself as she looked at herself as she flipped the invite over in her hand. ‘But it sounds interesting…‘

Arcene started to get a little excited. A mysterious invite to afternoon tea? How weird was that! Arcene was curious. Who invited her? Why did a strange man in dark glasses deliver the invite? Why so formal? How did the person know her? As far as Arcene knew, nobody really knew her.

Arcene’s imagination began running wild. Maybe she was about to be inducted into a secret organization or maybe the person who had invited her was from another world and she just happened to be the Chosen One with dormant powers within her!

Arcene felt a smile tugging her face but it was stopped in its tracks by the voice in her head.

‘Who are you kidding? Do you honestly believe that YOU of all people would have that happen to you?’ it scolded.

Arcene suddenly grew embarrassed at her own thoughts. They weren’t very realistic were they, but summoning what little willpower she had, she tried to argue with the voice in her head.

‘It happens to the people in my books! They’re normal just like I am and they still get to go on adventures and stuff!‘ she thought as she proceeded to her next class. She felt a small bit of confidence, a rare feat for her, she had made a strong argument. Surely the voice in her head would back down.

‘Please,’ replied the voice. ‘Here’s a reality check, you seem to have forgotten your place. First of all, you are not the protagonist of a book. You are a real life person. Second of all, you’ve somehow managed to be below the protagonists in your books. You may be normal like them, but you are duller and more useless than a broken lamp!’

Arcene stopped in front of a glass trophy case. The case held many of the awards students in the past had won for the school ,but Arcene paid them no mind. Her concern was for her reflection in the glass.

Her reflection glared at her in disdain. It’s indignation at having to be attached to her clear in its silver eyes.

Arcene knew she was just imagining this, her stoic expression hadn’t at all changed and her eyes were hidden behind her contacts, but the sheer contempt her reflection and the voice in her head had for her was impossible to ignore.

She turned her head and continued walking. Her excitement over the invitation thoroughly murdered, she contemplated throwing away the invitation and not going. The person probably wanted to talk to her about her sisters or something; it wouldn’t be the first time people spoke to her to get closer to them.

She dangled the invitation over a trash can but after a few moments decided against throwing it away. Her parents may not pay much attention to her now but at least they taught her manners. It was terribly rude to reject an invite without telling the person.

She got to class, took her seat, and laid her head on the desk. Her change in mood has sapped all her energy. She could already feel herself dozing off. Looks like she wouldn’t be completing any work that period.

………………..

Arcene mentally cursed. Oh how she wished she had been paying more attention when she put down her stuff to tie her shoes. Since she had gone to the roof for lunch, the wind had gotten stronger. Soon after she knelt down to tie her shoes, a strong gust of wind blew her loose papers and some of her lighter notebooks into the large fountain at the center of the courtyard. Now she was wading in water up to her calves. Outside the fountain rested the rest of her stuff as well as her school shoes and socks.

She sighed. There were a lot of paper scattered in the fountain. There was no doubt in her mind that most of them would be ruined by time she got to them. The more she thought about it, the more she wished she had put them in a folder before leaving the building. As for her notebooks, hopefully they would be salvageable. There wasn’t a lot of writing in them yet and she didn’t recall writing a lot of her notes in pen.

She tried not to blush in embarrassment as students gave her passing glances as they walked by. She huffed at the irony of things. When she wanted to, she couldn’t get anyone’s attention for the life of her and their eyes would slide right over her, but the moment she would rather sink into the background, that’s when people choose to focus their eyes on her.

With her focus on her embarrassment and collecting her soaked papers, she failed to notice anyone else in the fountain until the person’s feet were right in front of her. Still bent over,her eyes first met with blemishless peach skin and the school uniform pants rolled up to just before the knee. Then they moved up to see a slender torso covered in a white uniform shirt, sleeves rolled up to the elbows. Her eyes completed their journey as they gazed upon the face before them and were dazzled.

She was met with amethyst eyes for that was the best way she could describe what she was seeing. They were like cut and polished gems and veiled with thick lashes. They were the deepest shade of purple she had ever seen but were bright and welcoming. His face was without both blemish and compare. His pale blond hair, though seemingly low maintenance, looked incredibly well cared for.

The sun shined from being the boy in front of her, surrounding him in a halo of light and making Arcene want to look away from him less and less….Until she realized she had been staring a bit too long at the fellow in front of her.

She ducked her head back down and stared at her reflection in the water. She didn’t know what it was about the person standing in front of her but the aura he had around him made it feel like it was only right.

Arcene’s heart nearly stopped as she felt soft, delicate hands gently reaching under her chin and pulling her face upwards until she was standing up straight once again. When she was face to face with the boy once again, the fingers slowly pulled themselves from her face. She was sad for them to go.

The gazed upon her face and tilted his head to the side. Arcene’s heart restarted itself and raced as if the Devil was after it. Though desperately wanting to maintain composure, but the blush on her cheeks was still highly visible upon her dark skin.

“You’re Arcene Grey, correct?” he asked in an oh so charming voice. He seemed to have a slight accent but Arcene for the life of her, couldn’t place where on Earth it was from.

Arcene nodded.

“I believe these are yours then?” he held out a soaked notebook and a few papers.

Arcene looked at the papers in surprise before she tentatively took them. She stared at the papers in her hand. This was the first time she had ever really interacted with this boy but she knew who he was, he was Charmant Elric⁸, one of her classmates. Arcene had never spoken to him, but she knew his name suited him well. She had seen the glances he would get from the girls as he walked through the hallway. Even the girls in her class seemed to be taken with him and, to be honest, Arcene didn’t blame them. Even Arcene had spent a lot of her time watching him. As a girl, it was hard not to.

Something about the boy just felt so….

Princely.

But through her watching of him, Arcene noticed something.

Charmant was hardly ever alone.

Arcene heard a sloshing coming from her right and looked up to see a girl, also without socks shoes walking around the center of the fountain with wet papers in hand. Arcene’s eyes fell at the scabbard hanging at her side, intricately decorated gold and no doubt containing a sword.

The girl walked up to Arcene and Charmant and stood at his side. Arcene didn’t know what she was to him but the way she always stayed close behind him and watched their surroundings with her keen brown eyes gave Arcene the impression that she was a bodyguard of some sort though seeing as she seemed to be the same age as Charmant, Arcene’s better sense thought differently.

“I don’t believe we’ve introduced ourselves. I am P-Charmant, Charmant Elric⁹. This is my companion Aerith Magnolia,” said Charmant, holding out his hand to her.

“N-nice to meet you,” Arcene stammered as she placed a timid hand in his. She was expecting a handshake but was surprised when he leaned forward and kissed the top of her hand.

“The pleasure’s all mine,” he said pleasantly.

He released her hand and it dropped to her side for she was too stunned to pull it down herself.

She stared at the two who stood across from her. There was no doubt in her mind that they, while not being  the strangest of her classmates, were odd.

Charmant’s eyes, how purple they were, was completely unnatural. The only reasons she could come up with for why they were that color was that either he wore color contacts like she did or he was from somewhere where his eye color was possible.

Aerith¹⁰, on the other hand didn’t seem to have any strange features. Her hair was done in a dusty blonde braid around her head secured with a dark green ribbon and her eyes were brown. She was far from unattractive but she was nothing compared to Charmant. The only thing odd about her from a cursory glance was the sword at her side and gauntlets she wore on her hand, but with the way she always followed around Charmant, one could assume that they were close to each other and came from the same place.

Aerith cleared her throat and Arcene came back to reality.

“T-thanks for your h-help. I have to go now. Bye!”

She ran to the edge of the fountain, grabbed her stuff and bolted.

Barefoot, she ran under the arches of the main building and onto the cobblestone path. She checked her watch. It was almost 3:45. Her locker was all the way in the East building.

‘Tch, I’m gonna have to go straight there,’ Arcene decided.

It was hard sprinting up the school paths barefoot and with all her stuff pressed to her chest. As she approached the north building and took a sharp right around the building. She didn’t slow down until she reached the outdoor picnic tables.

She sucked in a breath. There were seven umbrellaed tables in the area, one surrounded by six others. Normally the plastic and metal tables were bare and their umbrellas sun bleached. Arcene remembered them from her tour of the place. But today, the center table was different.

She walked forward, breathing in deeply in an attempt to slow her heart rate down. As she drew nearer the details of the setup came into clearer view.

The sun bleached umbrella had been replaced with a large, lacy pink umbrella. The formerly bare table was now covered with a matching tablecloth and laid out with an expensive looking tea set. The attached chairs were covered in a cloth and had thick cushions put in their seats.

Arcene walked up to the man standing by the table, he was in suit and had dark sunglasses on. Arcene recognized him as the one who had given her the invitations.

“U-um, hello, I’m here for afternoon tea….” she said shyly.

“Take a seat,” he said in a deep voice.

Arcene obediently sat down. She set her stuff down on the ground and attempted to smooth her skirt. She was about to put her shoes back on when she was interrupted by the sound of a throat clearing. Arcene looked up and the security guard who’s body had turned towards the North building.

Arcene followed his gaze to see a Victorian doll walking under a parasol towards them.

Well, not a real one but by her looks alone you could easily mistake her for one.

She had porcelain skin seemingly untouched by the sun and cheeks the color of roses, hair like spun gold, long enough to brush the grass as she walked, and chocolate brown eyes. Her waifish frame gave her the appearance of a child but the elegance within her even strides gave the sense of utter refinement.

Behind her walked another man in a suit, this one older and smaller than the one who had invited Arcene, holding the parasol over her head.

The girl stood next to the table and her servant lowered the parasol before nodding and returning to the building.

She gave Arcene a gentle, welcoming smile. “Good afternoon, Ms. Grey. Has your day treated you well?”

Arcene gulped and stood up. “U-uh yes, yes it has,” she said nervously. Arcene mentally cursed. The girl before her was epitome of grace while she could barely get her words out.

The girl’s eyes narrowed slightly as she evaluated Arcene. It was quick, most people wouldn’t have noticed it, but Arcene did. It this wasn’t the first time she had been evaluated so. Attempts at subtlety were hard to hide from Arcene.

Arcene stepped a bit closer to the table. She felt her cheeks warm as she thought of her bare, dirty feet and the socks and shoes that sat on the ground next to her.

The girl locked eyes with Arcene once more. “That is good. It has treated pleasantly as well. I don’t believe we’ve been formally introduced. My name Primrose Josephine Fairefield. Please do sit down, Jenkins has prepared a delightful meal for the two of us.”

Arcene slid into her seat as Primrose did the same. The introduction was a bit unnecessary. Arcene knew who she was. She yet another one of her classmates. She was the girl who always walked around with bodyguards. To Arcene, the girl seemed like a walking China doll. She seemed too pale for the time of year and so small and thin that just bumping into her would effectively shatter her. Maybe that’s why she always sat out during gym and had a parasol at her side wherever she went.

The constant presence of guards by her side gave Arcene the impression that she was a wealthy heiress of sort. Her way of dress seemed only to confirm her thoughts.

For the school uniform, girls had the options of wearing a short skirt that went to the knees, a long skirt that reached to the mid calf, and in the winter, pants.

Primrose¹¹was one of those few girls in the school who wore the long skirt with her school uniform. She also wore the school jacket and stockings despite the warm weather. Though unnecessary, this, accompanied by the matching bows, bonnets, and headbands she wore gave her an archaic but individual look. However, that wasn’t what Primrose was wearing at the moment

Arcene watched as Prim poured the tea from the teapot into first Arcene’s cup than hers. Primrose wore an ankle length gown with ruffles and frills galore that matched the umbrella and table cloth. She even had a bonnet on.

“One lump or two?” asked Primrose, holding up a spoonful of sugar.

“Two,” Arcene replied, hands in lap.

She was having a tea party with a doll. She felt like a little child again, taking the dolls and tea set she shared with her sisters, putting on her mother’s flowery sun hat, and having a little party.

As she poured creamer into her tea and took a sip, she began imagining herself as someone else.

She was a little girl living in a large mansion. She sat at a table in her playroom by a large window as the sunlight streamed in. It was time for afternoon tea and the table was set with China with a flower pattern. She wore a pastel blue Victorian gown and had a ribbon tied into her hair. Today she had a guest joining her, her favorite China doll, Rosy.

She held the teapot in hand. “Would you like some tea, Rosy?”

The doll didn’t reply but stared back at her with blank eyes. Arcene smiled and poured the doll some tea before pouring her own.

“One lump or two?”

The doll didn’t answer. Arcene put a spoonful of sugar in its cup.

“Cream?”

No answer. Arcene took that as a no and poured her own cream before taking a deep sip of her tea.

She sat there for five minutes, silently drinking her tea before she put it down and looked at her doll.

“You should drink your tea before it gets cold.” The tea was probably already cold, but Arcene said it anyway.

The dolls glass eyes stared at her in silence. It was emotionless, speechless, breathless, motionless, lifeless.

She slid out her seat and walked over to the doll. She picked it up and hugged it tightly but it didn’t hug her back. She touched its delicate hands. There was no warmth in them. She pressed her ear to its chest. There was no heartbeat beat. She felt underneath its nose. It drew no breath.

She looked around her playroom. It was way too big. As many as 15 of her could play in there comfortably, yet only she stood in the room. The silence echoed against its walls. She shivered, she just noticed that the room was cold and hugged herself.

What she would give for the presence of another person.

Arcene squeezed her arms.

The action had been involuntary ,but it had brought her out of her daydream.
She blinked. Her eyes came back into focus.

Primrose stared at her from over the rim of her teacup before averting her eyes.

Arcene blushed. “H-how long have I been out?”

“Four minutes,” she said as she took a sugar cookie from a tray that Jenkins presented to them.

“Was I staring at you?”

“Yes,” she replied before nibbling on the cookie in her hand. Something about the way she had said it sounded incredibly sad.

“I’m sorry, please excuse my rudeness.”

“I accept your apology just please avoid doing it again. It brings back bad memories for me.”

“I’ll do my best,” Arcene said with a small nod.

Their tea party didn’t last very long. The tea, cookies, and finger sandwiches were good. Arcene was tempted to take some home for later but the two didn’t talk much. The two made small talk but their conversations went nowhere and  were full of awkward silences.

Arcene had so many things she thought about asking her like where she got her dress or if she had noticed how strange their classmate were. Arcene had been observing Primrose just as she had done with her other classmates. She wasn’t one of the more outgoing kids. The only ones she seemed to talk to were Aerith and Charmant, which brought up the question if Primrose had noticed her scabbard or his violet eyes.

However, Arcene had a difficult time communicating with Primrose. She was never the best at talking to people. One-on-one she always tripped over her words or shied away from speaking. When in a group, people always spoke over her and forgot she was there.

As the two attempted to chat between sips, but Arcene, though having so much to say, couldn’t get her words out. She was utterly hopeless.

The two didn’t depart from each until Jenkins cleared his throat and tapped his watch.

“You’ll have to excuse me,” said Primrose, removing the napkin from her lap and getting up. “I have another appointment to attend to. It was a pleasure sharing this meal with you. Farewell.” The girl curtsied and walked off toward the main gate with her guard in tow.

Arcene watched as she departed until she heard the sound of clinking. She turned around to see Jenkins clearing the table with a fancy tea cart beside him. Arcene quickly got up.

Carefully holding the delicate cups and saucers, she began assisting the older man in cleaning up.

“There’s no need for your assistance, Young Miss. Please, allow me,” said Jenkins, reaching for the porcelain in her hands.

Arcene shook her head and continued loading the cart. “You have somewhere to be don’t you?” she said quietly. “Don’t you have to meet your daughter?” she said even quieter.

Jenkins looked at her, eyebrows raised.

Arcene avoided his eyes and continued loading the utensils. “If I help, you can get this done faster.”

Jenkins nodded. “Very well.”

The two finished loading the cart and leftover food. Arcene followed Jenkins into the school building and stood by his side as the two washed the utensils and China then afterwards helped him load the stuff in his car. Jenkins didn’t say a word, he got the impression that Arcene wasn’t wasn’t very much for conversation but he had to admit, her help was indeed making things go faster. Fast enough in fact that he would indeed make it to his daughter’s birthday party on time.

Jenkins closed the car door and turned to Arcene. “Your assistance was much appreciated Young Miss.”

“It…was no problem,” replied Arcene, lowering her eyes. Jenkins seemed like a nice man and Arcene couldn’t say that she hadn’t offered to help him for her own personal reasons.

“Would you like me to take you home? I have more than enough time to drop you off before I go to my appointment,” he asked.

Arcene shook her head. Getting a ride would just hurry the inevitable.

“No, it’s fine, I can walk.”

“Is that so? Well then, I must bid you goodbye, Young Miss. I hope the rest of your day treats you well.”

“Same to you,” Arcene adjusted her books and turned to walk away, hoping that the school buildings hadn’t yet closed so that she could get her stuff.

“One more thing, Young Miss,” said Jenkins. “You don’t talk much but, you seem like a kind girl. It would bring me no small amount of joy if you became friends with my young mistress.”

The corner of Arcene’s mouth twitched. Arcene hugged her books closer to her chest and took a shuddering breath before she straightened herself out and responded in a neutral tone. “Thank you for the compliment.”

Jenkins couldn’t tell whether she was happy because of her words or not but he decided to let it be; whether they became friends or not was totally out of his power. He climbed into his car and drove away. Arcene watched as he went through the gates and onto the street before heading into one of the buildings to get her stuff from her locker.

After getting her stuff, she slowly made her way home on the mid-September afternoon. She wove through her fellow pedestrians, grateful for the ones that walked slowly and got in her way. It was after five ,but sunset was still a few hours away. She searched her brain for any reason to stay out later. Her stomach was full  and she was low on cash anyway so going to a cafe or restaurant was out of the question. She had nobody’s house to go to so that was out too. There was also no errands to run as their mom had already gone grocery shopping recently.

‘I could go to the park…’ Arcene thought.

She hopped over a puddle on the sidewalk, feeling the books and homework shift inside her bag.

‘Or maybe not…’  she thought in disappointment. Looks like she had no choice but to go home.

‘I wonder if Mr. Jenkins is having a good time with his daughter…’ she thought as she walked. She hoped he was, Jenkins seemed like a nice old man. She had seen him checking his phone multiple times during the tea party. He was behind Primrose when he did it so Arcene didn’t think she noticed. At one point, he had to excuse himself to answer his ringing phone. Arcene was just barely close enough to hear him say that he would be somewhere in an hour. Also when he was cleaning up, she saw him take the leftover cookies and put them in a white paper bag. The way he did was so careful and neat that Arcene couldn’t help but think that they were for someone. Him attaching a pink bow to it confirmed her suspicions.

She dragged her feet for as long as she could but it wasn’t long before she was in front of the low wall surrounding her yard. She opened the gate and walked up to the front door. She didn’t bother ringing the doorbell, she knew that besides her lateness, nobody would answer. She opened the door with her keys and took a step in.

“I’m home!” she called out.

Her voice reverberated throughout the house but there was no reply. And of course there wasn’t, Her mom and dad were still at work, Oralie was at gymnastics practice, and Callista was doing the accompaniment for one of her friends’ recitals, leaving Arcene home alone, as usual.

While most teens would revel in having the house to themselves, Arcene had long grown tired of being alone, as well the implications of being the only member of her family that didn’t have anything to do outside the house had. Then again, it’s not like anyone had ever commented on it ,but being alone with your thoughts a lot tended to bring things to mind.

Arcene dropped her book bag on the ground  and climbed up the stairs. She was about to head straight for her room when her eyes caught something that was in her eldest sister’s bedroom.

She approached the door and pushed it open so as to get a better view of the object. Sitting on her sister’s dresser was a fine China doll, in a frilly pink dress and bonnet.

Arcene walked into the room and lifted the doll from its perch. It was light, and felt extremely delicate in her arms. Holding the doll in her arms, she proceeded downstairs with it. She stacked some books on one of the chairs in the dining room and sat the doll across down on them before going into the basement and coming back with an old tea set that she and her sister’s had long stopped playing with. She set the table before taking a seat across from the doll.

She stared at it. The resemblance in had to Primrose was uncanny. Large brown eyes, long flaxen hair, pale skin, rosy cheeks, pink dress…

“Shall we drink?” she asked, raising her teacup.

The doll didn’t reply nor did it move.

“She really did look like a Victorian doll. I would have liked to talk to her more…” she mused out loud. “I should’ve spoken more with her.”

But she hadn’t. The girl had invited Arcene to eat with her and Arcene hadn’t said a single thing of value.

Made you wonder ,huh? During the tea party, who was really the doll? Who had neglected to fill the silence? Who had neglected to provide warmth? Who had neglected to provide affection?

Arcene slouched in her seat and groaned.

1. Not sure about the title.

2. Azlyn is an interesting character that I probably could have given her own full-length story. She’s supposed to be a magical girl-inspired imaginary friend who can transverse dreams. Her subplot was going to be that everyone thought her creator was crazy because she didn’t disappear when they grew up. She was then disowned by them and was wandering on her own until Dinari found her again.

3. CRAI’s design and personality are based on Origami Tobiichi from Date a Live.

4. Just call her an alien, it’s so much easier.

5. This feels kind of cheesy to me now.

6.Literally “star child”

7. I planned the villains as foils to the main class(though they’re not all in the same grade). Dan is the “Arcene” of the group. Rip is a sharkman who was analogous to Mesi, who’s a mermaid.

8. Charmant was inspired by Tamaki Suoh from Ouran High School Host Club. Tamaki was known as the “princely” type, so I decided to take him and make him an actual prince! This scene in particular was inspired by episode 1 of the anime.

9. I might change his last name, it reminds me of Full Metal Alchemist too much.

10. Aerith was inspired by Artoria Pendragon from the Fate series. Her foil on the villains’ side was supposed to be a Diurmuid lookalike.